Ultrahigh Vacuum Chamber-GEC Reference Cell

Product Announcement from Nor-Cal Products, Inc.

Nor-Cal Products,Inc - This describes projects utilizing a "reference cell" for generating radio-frequency (rf) discharges in various gasses at a frequency of 13.56 MHz. At present the cell is a conventional ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) chamber with a pair of 10 cm diameter, parallel plate electrodes. The reference cell concept grew out of a need to provide an experimental platform for comparing plasma measurements carried out in a number of separate but identical chambers. The design for this reference chamber was developed in the 1988 Gaseous Electronics Conference (GEC). The detail mechanical drawings of the chamber, the electrodes and all of the components are available from Nor-Cal Products.

The basic purpose of the reference cell is to provide a comparison between measurements performed on identical discharge sources by different groups to establish the necessary and sufficient conditions defining reproducible plasma parameters and establishing a reference rf-excited plasma that allows others to define and calibrate diagnostic measurements and theoretical models. Initial measurements addressed the voltage and current properties of the discharge under predetermined conditions of gas type, flow rate, pressures and applied rf voltages.